# "I was graduated" vs. "I graduated" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813 "2002-04-04T17:20:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![spleen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spleen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spleen)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813/1 "2002-04-04T17:20:53Z")
I am studying for the GRE right now, and one of my practice tests asserts that the sentence: “After he graduated school, he entered the army” should actually be written: “After he **was** graduated from school, he entered the army.” Well, I don’t buy it. I consulted Webster on the matter and he tells me that I am at least partially correct. \*"In the 19th century the transitive sense (1a) was prescribed; the intransitive \ was condemned. The intransitive prevailed nonetheless, and today it is the sense likely to be prescribed and the newer transitive (sense 1b) the one condemned. All three are standard. The intransitive is currently the most common, the new transitive the least common. " \* So, what do you think? Should I call up the GRE people and tell them that after 100 years, this question has outlived its usefulness? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813/2 "2002-04-04T17:46:41Z")
Here’s what American Heritage has to say: > [@](#): > > Usage Note: The verb graduate has denoted the action of conferring an academic degree or diploma since at least 1421. Accordingly, the action of receiving a degree should be expressed in the passive, as in She was graduated from Yale in 1998. This use is still current, if old-fashioned, and is acceptable to 78 percent of the Usage Panel. In general usage, however, it has largely yielded to the much more recent active pattern (first attested in 1807): She graduated from Yale in 1998. Eighty-nine percent of the Panel accepts this use. It has the advantage of ascribing the accomplishment to the student, rather than to the institution, which is usually appropriate in discussions of individual students. When the institution’s responsibility is emphasized, however, the older pattern may still be recommended. A sentence such as The university graduated more computer science majors in 1997 than in the entire previous decade stresses the university’s accomplishment, say, of its computer science program. On the other hand, the sentence More computer science majors graduated in 1997 than in the entire previous decade implies that the class of 1997 was in some way a remarkable group. ·The Usage Panel feels quite differently about the use of graduate to mean “to receive a degree from,” as in She graduated Yale in 1998. Seventy-seven percent object to this usage. It looks like either example is acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813/3 "2002-04-04T18:16:26Z")
You didn’t give the full definition, which can be found online [here](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=graduated). The first usage in the OP is (1b). So you’ve got Webster saying it’s standard but likely to be condemned, and American Heritage saying 77% of the panel objected to it – personally, I would be inclined to change it. Nevertheless that is not a good question – we should replace something likely to be disparaged today in favor of something less than common? Either it really is an old question or they were trying to be tricky. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813/4 "2002-04-04T18:17:32Z")
RealityChuck beat me to it. I was going to give the exact same quote. I agree with American Heritage Dictionary wholehartedly. ---
**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813/5 "2002-04-04T19:53:39Z")
Garner’s “Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style” accepts both forms as “standard,” yet still condemns as bad usage the construction “She graduated high school,” prefering instead “She graduated FROM high school.” ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813/6 "2002-04-04T20:01:20Z")
My reading of the American Heritage usage note makes me believe that “After he was graduated from school, he entered the army.” and “After he graduated **from** school, he entered the army.” would be correct. Sounds like the usage council doesn’t like the “graduated school” bit because it sounds like the school graduated from the person. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813/7 "2002-04-04T21:30:00Z")
\*\* GLILLY \*\*, you are correct. The first example is never correct. It is kind of stilted English, IMHO, to say, “He was graduated from x.” Better is “He graduated from x.” But never “He graduated x.” The student does not do the graduation. It is the school that gradulates the student, not vice-versa. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813/8 "2002-04-04T21:32:50Z")
Before anyone objects to “gradulates,” let me say that it is a combination of congratulations to a graduate. But you won’t find it in your Funk & Wagnal. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813/9 "2002-04-04T21:56:57Z")
If somebody told me “I _was_ graduated”, I think I would instinctively examine them to see whether the markings on their body were in inches or centimetres; I don’t think I would be able to help it. ---
**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-graduated-vs-i-graduated/101813/10 "2002-04-05T05:21:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*\*\* GLILLY \*\*, you are correct. The first example is never correct. It is kind of stilted English, … \*\* No, all the sources cited say the first example \is\ correct, and is the older usage. However, it is more common to use the latter, especially in America – as you say, it is considered “stilted” over here. You are correct in noting that, whether or not “graduated” is preceded by “was,” it is \always\ followed by “from.”